A Chance to Change: Book 1
by Jilly 1111
Summary: The Original Order of the Pheonix along with Snape, the Weasleys and seven year old Tonks read the books. Harry is alive and James and Lily are yet to be dead. Cant they save their fate? More on the inside!
1. Prologue

**This is yet another 'characters read the books' kind of serie. It's during the first war. Harry is alive, but Lily and James aren't dead yet. The original order, the Weasleys, Snape and seven-year old Tonks will read the books. **

**I'm doing this serie because I'm tired of reading unfinished ones AND I'm tired of the Marauder's acting like twelve-year-old girls in those that I did read. **

**This is just the prologue. My plan is to post the first chapter tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. **

**Have a good read!**

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**Pologue**

Lily Potter was carrying her most precious possession – her son, Harry. Her husband, James, in front of her, had his wand drawn in one hand and his opposite arm was settled in front of Lily and Harry as if protecting them in case some unwanted pedestrians showed up and attacked.

They walked the short distance from the apparition point to the house designed as the Headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix in a quietly and quickly fashion. Without knocking on the door, James opened the small one-story house's door. He slightly pushed Lily inside before going in himself.

Because of the small size of the house, the entrance, the kitchen, the dining room and the living room were all in the same room. They were greeted by the dozens of members that were already there: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon, Mad-Eyed Moody, Emmeline Vance, Alice and Frank Longbottom, Elphias Doge, Gideon and Fabian Prewett and Edgar Bones.

'Remus, Peter and I were wondering if you would be coming as well,' Sirius said to James quietly over the loud conversations so that no one but him could here. 'Considering…'

Sirius looked at Harry who Alice had taken from Lily and settled down with Neville on the ground. Not everyone knew about the Potter's being targeted by Voldemort, but James had confined in Sirius, Remus and Peter.

'Dumbledore just sent us a Patronus about an emergency meeting…' James said as equally quiet as if trying to get some more information from Sirius.

'I don't know more than you do, mate.' Sirius shrugged. 'Let's have a seat.'

James saw that Lily had already found herself a seat with Alice, Marlene and Emmeline on the only two love seats couch. Mad-eyed Moody had settled down on the big comfy chair beside them. The rest of the boys minus Peter, Remus and Frank had settled on the wooden kitchen chairs. This left the Marauders and Frank to sit on plastic garden chairs that had been brought inside. Harry and Neville were babbling along without any sense in what they were saying, both ten months old, on the blanket full of toys that had been put in front of the sofas.

Dumbledore didn't make them wait too long, after a short seven minutes, he came in the house. This would have normally not been shocking, but today it was as Dumbledore did not come alone. Behind him was-

'Molly! Arthur!' Fabian said while getting up to hug his almost seven months pregnant sister and brother-in-law. 'What are you – why are you-?'

Gideon had gotten up to do the same. Molly looked positively puzzled at being there as well.

Behind Molly was –

'Andromeda!' Sirius said getting up at once to join his cousin. 'And you brought little Nymphadora?'

'I'm seven!' The small girl said as if this made her a grown up.

''Course you are.' Sirius grinned.

'Do you remember my cousin, Sirius?' Andromeda asked her daughter.

Sirius highly doubted this since the last time he had seen her she wasn't able to put a sentence together. As he predicted, the girl shook her head.

Behind was Minerva McGonagall, which no one was surprise to see. Hagrid came right behind her, which everyone smiled at. The last arrival was probably one of the least expected human.

Severus Snape walked in avoiding everyone's eyes and stood hidden behind the new arrivals. James shot a look at Lily who was blinking unusually fast as if trying to decide whether Snape was really there. Sirius had returned to his seat beside James.

'What is _he_ doing here?' James asked.

Sirius, knowing exactly who James was talking about, murmured with a dark look at Snape. 'I was ready to bet my motorbike that he was a Death Eater.'

Dumbledore had conjucted chairs for the new arrivals and the small house was awfully crowded. Dumbledore had gotten up from his chair and waited for silence to fall upon them all. When it did, he started talking, cheerfully.

'Before we begin, a very special welcome to our guests who joins us today. I have called upon all of you today for a special and rather unusual meeting. As we all know,' he said this more gravely. 'Voldemort (there was a collective shudder) is more powerful than ever before. We are no closer to defeating him than we were when I started this organisation.'

Everyone exchanged looks at this sudden honesty.

'It is time to take some drastic actions and I shall think that all of you would agree. The only way of defeating him is knowing, of course, the hows and the whys.'

Dumbledore got seven books out of his pockets which James suspected he must have enlarged by magic. 'These books are the explanations of the how and why.'

'Where did you get these books from?' Frank asked unbelievably. 'How do you know they'll be of help?'

'I paid a visit to the future and collected a few memories.' Dumbledore said simply.

'From who are these memories?' Remus asked looking unsure about the books. 'From what time?'

Dumbledore smiled at this. 'Different individuals at different times, but the most of them are from one particular boy in this room.'

Everyone looked at all the man in the room seeming to forget the two babies on the floor.

'I have read the books and decided that along with the Order, these six individuals should hear it out. Nymphadora, as you have your mother's permission, you can listen as well.' Nymphadora was glowing at these words, but Molly looked disapproval. 'Fabian, Gideon, Elphias, Edgar and Emmeline, you may stay or leave as you wish. The rest of you, it is my wish that you all stay for you have a rather big connection to the books.'

'Do I have to stay?' Peter asked looking a bit nervous.

Dumbledore glare at him. The books had said that he had worked for Voldemort a year before Lily and James had died which meant that he now was in Voldemort's order.

'No, Peter, it is my wish that you stay.' He faced the rest of the group. 'As soon as we start, we will be bericated here until we are finish with the books.'

'This house is so small, thought!' Emmeline complained.

While they were discussing on the how they were all going to sleep here tonight, Remus frowned at Peter.

'Why don't you want to stay?'

'I just – have things to do.' Peter mumbled.

'How do you know the memories are reliable?' Mad-Eyed said harshly after a few minutes of house talk. 'It could have been tampered on.'

'I assure you, Alastor, that I know when a memory is false, as you will also witness in the sixth book.' Dumbledore said pleasantly. 'Shall we begin?'

'I have a question first?' Alice said throwing up her hand as if they were at school. 'When are the books taking place?'

'In the future.' Dumbledore said patiently. 'Any more questions?'

When nobody objected, Dumbledore took one of the books.

**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**

There was a collective glance at the ten months old one the floor. The girls gasped and Lily shouted, '_Excuse me?'_

'As you may have now guessed, these memories are mostly from the future Harry Potter.' Dumbledore said staring proudly at the baby who was occupied with his stuffed animals.

'How old was he when you took the memories from him?' James asked not daring to believe that Harry would survive even if the darkest wizard was after him.

'I wouldn't want to ruin the books.' Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling. 'But, he was old enough to understand the concepts of giving me his memories. Shall we go on?'

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**Hope I didn't miss anyone!**

**Reviews are all those who wants a finished series. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Thank you so very much for all the support I'm already getting!**

**This chapter is mainly just the reading/commentary from the first chapter of PS. **

**Warning: If you like sunshines and rainbows, you won't find them in here. I'm more of a dramatic, not humorous person. James and Lily get pretty upset, but who would blame them, right?**

**In exception of this chapter, usually the chapters will start with a talk from the last chapter read, like their theories, opinions etc. More explanations at the bottom! **

**Until then, have a good read!**

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**Reading of Chapter 1**

**The Boy Who Lived**

'This first half of the chapter is a memory taken from Vernon Dursley.' Dumbledore announced.

James sniggered. 'Really?'

'Who's Vernon Dursley?' About ten people asked at once.

'My muggle sister's husband.' Lily said rolling her eyes.

'How did you convince _him_ to give you his memory? Did he say you were a freak or some kind of amateur magician?' James now asked in a bitter manner. 'I know! You've jinx him at it!' James eye's was filling with anticipation. 'Please, let me be there in the future!'

Dumbledore was about to respond to this, but Remus said in a very serious matter. 'If we read this book – or these books – this series?- whatever they are - and change the future, Dumbledore may never have to ask Vernon Dursley for the memory.'

Everyone looked painfully thoughtful thinking about the common sense behind it all.

'We may start the chapter.' Dumbledore said before anyone could really work out any sense.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

'Sounds about right.' Lily muttered.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

'I hope Dudley becomes a wizard.' James laughed. 'Imagine Petunia's face!'

Lily grinned at him from the other side of the room. As much as Severus hated James Potter, he couldn't help but be amused by picturing Petunia's reaction in his head. No one was paying him any attention so it was safe to smirk.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

Severus had smirked at 'good-for-nothing husband'.

'They sound like a pleasant lot.' Sirius said sarcastically.

'I've been telling you that for ages.' James pointed out.

'What happen between you and your sister?' Molly wanted to know.

Lily took a few seconds to respond. 'Nothing in particular. Well – no – I shouldn't say that. What happened is I became a witch.' Lily saw a lot of frowning in her direction, so she explained further on. 'We were the best of friends before I knew I was – er – different from my family and one day…' She shot an uneasy glance at Severus Snape. 'Someone told me I was a witch. She didn't really accept it and when McGonagall (She smiled at her) came to my house to explain to me and my parents what exactly I was, she eventually came to conclude that I was a freak. Every year I would come home and things only got worst between us. She didn't even come to my wedding.' She added bitterly.

Marlene patted Lily's shoulder.

'Is she You-Know-Who in reverse?' The seven year old Nymphadora asked her mother loudly.

Everyone smirked at the girl's imagination. Andromeda frowned at her daughter.

Nymphadora took an exaggerated exasperation breathe. 'Mum, You-Know-Who is a wizard who hates muggles and her sister-' She pointed her little finger at Lily.

'Don't point-' Andromeda murmured.

'-she's a muggle who hates wizards!'

'I daresay she's not as bad as Voldemort.' Dumbledore smiled at the girl before returning to the book.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

'But, he's a pleasant little boy!' Alice said poking Harry in the stomach which made him giggled before returning to his surrounding toys.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. **

'What date is this?' Emmeline interrupted.

'It is next Halloween.' Dumbledore responded.

'I was expecting a good ten to fifteen years from now at the least…' Fabian glanced at Harry. 'Didn't you say that he was old enough to -?'

'Right you are!' Dumbledore nodded. 'There is a ten year lap between chapter one and two.'

'Oh, ok.'

**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

'They don't see nothing don't they those muggles?' Edgar Bones pointed out.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. **

**"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

Nearly everyone glance at McGonagall.

'You ought to be careful.' Mad-Eyed said as if she had killed someone.

'I don't know what you mean by it.' McGonagall said her lips barely moving. 'They are a lot of cats in this country.'

'None of them can read maps.' Remus said looking at her pointedly.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. **

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. **

'This is exactly why muggles don't ever notice we existed.' Arthur said smiling sheepishly. 'They make excuses after excuses.'

'And, Vernon Dursley, he'll go a long way to ignore it.' Lily said shaking her head.

**As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. **

**As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. **

'Why are they wizards in broad daylight?' Marlene asked uneasy.

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

'If my Aurors were this stupid…' Mad-Eyed mumbled. 'Can't even spot anything when he _knows_ that wizards are at large.'

'You make us sound dangerous.' Sirius said. 'Anyways, Mad-Eyed, what is it if a couple of people in cloaks are in town?'

'After all the hard work we-' Mad-Eyed started dangerously.

'Can we just get back to the books?!' Frank said over their voices.

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. **

'Why are we all going insane with owls?' Fabian asked. 'I would think we would be a bit more careful.'

**He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

'That's him in a good mood?' Sirius snorted.

'You should have seen him when he's in a bad mood.' James said annoyed.

'Have you?'

James nodded while smirking. 'Remind me to tell you about the first time I've met him.'

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry."**

Everyone looked over at Harry again before glancing between Lily and James who were looking at each other.

'He can't be dead if the books are about him, right?' James said to Lily, but he didn't sound to convince.

Lost for words, Lily simply nodded.

'If these books are his memory, I think we can be sure he's alive.' Alice said patting Lily's shoulder.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,**

'A telephone?' Arthur asked with excitement.

'Not now, Arthur!' Molly said sternly which was enough to make him back down.

**and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. **

**Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

'Honestly, you'd think he'd at least remember his name!' Lily said, but she wasn't that shocked at this piece of information.

'I still can't believe that he agreed to give you his memory.' James said amused to Dumbledore.

'He only needed a bit of persuasion.' Dumbledore said happily, but didn't give any detail.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

** It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

There was a collective gasped. Everyone stood shocked on their chairs, unable to speak. It was Mad-Eyed who recuperated first.

'Gone? Then why are we reading these ruddy books if he's history in less than half a year?'

'It's not as simple as that.' Dumbledore said gravely. 'Though I wish it were, Alastor. It would have saved quite a great number of innocent lives.'

'But- but…' Lily seemed to be struggling with words. 'Those wizards earlier said something about Harry – and well Harry's only going to be fifteen months old by then.'

'Indeed he will, Lily.' Dumbledore said the sparkle in his eyes had disappeared and Lily's stomach dropped for she knew something horrible was coming.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

'There's no way out of this one Minerva!' Mad-Eyed shouted. 'Like we didn't notice your glasses makes marking around your eyes.'

'Every cat has markings.' McGonagall said reasonably.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. **

'Definitely her.' Sirius whispered to Remus instead of James, because James was still staring at Harry as though not really seeing him.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. **

**When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

'The muggles have noticed!' Gideon said in a panicky sort of way.

Lily waved the comment away. 'They'll think it's only the news station looking for stories. They'll be forgetting about it the next day.'

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. **

**"Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

'Sisterly love, you know.' Lily whispered sarcastically to Marlene who chuckled.

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."**

'Not as stupid as he looks.' Mad-Eyed said with a most ugly grin.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

'At least she remembers the name.' Sirius said trying to cheer James up.

It was Lily who responded. 'Petunia remembers every name, every face and every detail of everyone's life. It really isn't that impressive.'

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over- it couldn't affect them...**

**How very wrong he was.**

'That is the last of Vernon Dursley's memory. Now we shall turn to mine and Minevra's memory.' Dumbledore said.

McGonagall stiffened. 'I have agreed to this?'

'In the future, yes.'

'I have a question first.' Lily announced. 'How come it said 'How very wrong he was.'? What does it even mean?'

'I wouldn't want to ruin anything.' Dumbledore said somewhat gravely.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. **

**It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

'Are you going to visit my sister?' Lily frowned, but Dumbledore said, 'We shall read on and see.'

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. **

**For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

'You know it's her, that's why.' Elphias said pointing his thumb towards McGonagall.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

'What is that?' Arthur asked quite surprised.

'I invented that.' Dumbledore said as if it wasn't that much of a big deal, but everyone looked rather impressed.

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

Everyone smirked at this.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I 've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

The room was calm; everybody seemed to try to understand what happened to Voldemort.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

'What rumors?' Fabian began, but everybody stared him down in a way that plainly said, 'don't interrupt.'

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

'But, you said that he wasn't gone two seconds ago?' Emmeline blurted out.

'No, he said it wasn't that simple.' Marlene reminded her.

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.**

'Are we ever going to know what happened?' James said impatiently.

**"I know you haven 't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. **

Everyone was on the edge of their seats. Here it was: the big revelation.

**Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "**

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

Lily had lost her ability to hear. Her heart had dropped to her stomach and she felt like vomiting it. In five months' time she would die and so would James. She was barely aware of Marlene and Alice's hugs. Her eyes searched for James, but they seemed to be working improperly.

James only registered two things: somehow their deaths were linked to Voldemort's disappearance. He had died like he always said he would; a hero. The second thing was that Lily was dead. These books, he was going to stay and listen with all his might and somehow he _will_ save Lily's fate.

Sirius was white and looked about to say something to him, but James got up and walked to where Lily was sitting. He was aware of everybody's teary eyes on him. When he was close to Lily, Alice and Marlene let go of her.

James bent down on his knees in front of her and took both her hands in his.

'We can change this. You're not dying, not if I can help it.' James whispered to her. He wasn't sure who could hear him and who couldn't.

Lily pressed her lips together and James knew she was restraining tears. At last she said, in a thin kind of voice, 'Sit with me.'

Marlene who had been on the love seat with her got up and said, 'I'll swap places with you.'

James sat down beside Lily and the latter rested her head on his shoulder.

Nobody except Dumbledore noticed that even Severus Snape was upset by this news.

**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

Lily cried on James' shoulder at this. James bent down and picked up Harry from the ground.

'Oh, Harry…' Lily sobbed looking at Harry's giggly face.

'We won't let you alone this time around, little man.' James said sitting Harry on his lap.

Harry did not seem preoccupied by this. He bounced a miniature wizard toy on his mother's lap rambling along. 'nana, nanananananana, aaayyyyayayayaa.'

'How?' Lily asked looking at Dumbledore. She wasn't the only one who was stunt by this. Everybody was looking at Harry as though a hero.

'We shall find out.' He said shaking the book.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

'I thought we were finding out?' Sirius frowned.

'Patients.' Marlene teased him.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

Everyone's eyes were on Hagrid who was still crying over James and Lily's death.

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

'No!' Lily said in a harsh whisper. She cleared her throat. 'Dumbledore, please, you can't have.'

'Alas, it was the only way-'

'What about me?' Sirius said in disbelief. '_I _would have taken him. Why didn't you just bring him to me?'

'I have my reasons which shall be treated in these books.' Dumbledore said calmly.

'Why _her?_' Lily said taking Harry from James' lap and hugging him tightly as if she was afraid Dumbledore would bring him to the Dursley's this very second. 'She'll probably brainwash him into thinking that he's a freak! He'll not even want to be a wizard!'

'I have better be dead!' Sirius said shaking his head. 'Or, knowing me, I'll just be right around the corner waiting to steal Harry away.'

'We wouldn't mind raising him either.' Alice said looking from Harry and Neville. 'We want other kids anyways, so what if it's not our own.'

Frank agreed.

'I wouldn't mind helping to raise him either.' Marlene volunteered. 'Of course if it is Sirius raising him, he'll need help anyways.'

'And, what do you mean by that?' Sirius scowled. 'What do you have that I don't?'

'A good sense of right and wrong.' Marlene smirked.

'Aren't we going off subjects?' Molly snapped at them.

'Back to the book.' Dumbledore said even though Lily wasn't looking satisfied.

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

'So you're not even going to – I don't know – knock on the door and explain the situation to them?' James asked with an angry laugh. 'What did you write? _'Hi, your sister and your brother-in-law are dead. Please take care of their baby. Bye.'_ Aren't you going to go in and give them the baby anyways? What are you going to do? Give them the baby, chuck the letter in their hands and flee. And, why is it the death of night?'

Lily had always looked up to Dumbledore with immense respect, but now… she felt the world as turned upside down. They were going to die and Harry was off to live with her sister. Out of nowhere, she saw a way out of the situation.

'She's not going to take him.' She said quietly.

'Say that again?' Remus asked from the other side of the room where they did not hear her properly.

'She's not going to take him.' She repeated louder. 'There's no way.'

She wanted to ask Dumbledore if she was taking Harry in, but for some reason she could not meet his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, Dumbledore continued on.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

'That's your reason for leaving him there?' Lily asked him while shaking her head in obvious disbelief. 'So he can grow away from all the fame? That's a pretty stupid reason.'

Sirius agreed to this. 'I would have grown him the muggle way if you really had wanted me too. Marlene's muggle born.'

'Suddenly, you realise how great it would be to have my help.' Marlene said in fake annoyance.

Meanwhile, Alice snorted and whispered in Emmeline's ear, 'Is it just me, or whenever Sirius is around, Marlene acts like an idiot?'

'Personally,' James started which brought both girls back to reality. 'I will make sure to underline in my will that in no situation should Harry ever live with the Dursleys.'

Lily nodded beside him. 'And, you can go on.'

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

'Hagrid, mate, next time bring him to me.' Sirius said.

'I s'pose I didn't 'now they were bad people. I wou'dn't agree 'o course.' Hagrid said with an apology glance towards Lily and James.

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

McGonagall avoided everybody's eyes.

'What's wrong with Hagrid?' Frank challenged her.

'I think Hagrid can be trusted.' McGonagall said sternly. 'I was probably concern that he couldn't use his wand to get Harry there.'

**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

Hagrid's eyes filled with tears again. 'Dumb'edore. 'o course you can trust me with anytin''

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

'Aha!' Sirius said proudly. 'I knew I was right around the corner! That's my bike!'

'This is exactly why he's Harry's godfather.' James said as proudly.

'You're going to go live with Padfoot!' Lily said in a baby voice to Harry.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it.**

'Am I gaining three hundred pounds in the next five months?' Sirius said in death seriousness.

**He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved.**

'You have a bike too?!' Sirius asked Hagrid.

'I don't.' Hagrid said confused.

**"At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

'Ah. That's why.' Sirius understood.

James did not look impressed. 'You're a rubbish godfather, Sirius.'

'Obviously there's a reason for my absence. I'm probably crying over your dead body, mind you.' Sirius said clicking his tongue.

'Yeah… well…' James awkwardly looked at the ground.

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Lily looked suddenly at Harry's forehead almost expecting a cut to be there.

'It's probably where the curse hit him.' Fabian suggested.

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

'Do you really?' Nymphadora said approaching the old man.

'Nymphadora!' Andromeda said gesturing her back to her place.

'I do.' Dumbledore smiled.

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

'You're so sensitive.' Edgar said sarcastically.

'I have logic.' McGonagall replied almost coldly.

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

'Wait just one second!' James said once again furious. 'You're just going to chuck him on the doorstep?'

'I'm sure there's a reason-' Remus started, but James threw him a look of despise. 'You agree with this?!'

'No, I was merely saying that-'

'Looks like you're off my list of friends I can rely on to take care of my son.' James said coolly.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and with one last dirty look at Remus, James refocused his attention on the book.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

'_Good luck?'_ James repeated. 'You're lucky if some animal doesn't eat him!'

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

'Oh, that last sentence gave me goose bumps.' Emmeline said shivering.

'She actually took him.' Lily said unbelievably. 'I – maybe I was wrong about her?'

'We will take a ten minutes break!' Dumbledore said. 'No one is to leave the house. If you need to use the washrooms, now would be the time to-'

There was a knock on the door.

Dumbledore walked over to answer.

'Amelia!' They heard.

Edgar Bones was on his feet to greet her.

'Sorry, I'm late.' She said.

'Merlin, if more comes, we'll have to sleep on the floor.' Emmeline said annoyed.

* * *

**Well, there it is. **

**Cassandra30 reviewed that she wanted Amelia Bones to be there as well. So, that was for you! **

**To Shorty412, if the support continues as it is, I don't see why not! **

**To Anniriel, thanks a bunch. And, no I certainly do not mind!**

**To Johanni 93, god of all and Goddess Alexandria, a very warm thanks!**

**NEXT CHAPTER: The characters theories on Harry's survival of the killing curse and, of course, the reading/commentaries of the second chapter. **

**If you have an opinion or a comment or a question as well, please review. **

**Question of the chapter for those who wish to share their opinion: I'm not normally a Blackinnon (I don't even know how it's written) shipper, but I can almost feel Marlene's crush on Sirius for some reason. Thoughts? I'm pretty open about shippings, just don't gave me ridiculous ones.**

**Reviews are also those who want a quick update!**

**-Jilly 1111**


	3. Chapter 2

**OHHHH, you guys! THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THOSE REVIEWS AND FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES!**

**Alright, I wanted to update like a week and a half ago, but I failed. **

**Here are some questions that were asked with answers (the rest of the reviews are at the bottom):**

**Brebre96 asked: Are you going to have an older Harry, Granger and Ron come in later? **Not during the readings for sure. If the support continues I might do a story about the afterwards of the reading in which I can't be sure exactly what's going to happen. I would say more of a 'no' then 'yes'.

**Harryfan 160889 asked: Is there going to be any bashing? **It depends on your definition of 'bashing'. Obviously James and Lily were a bit angry at Dumbledore last chapter because they don't know the reason behind his actions. Obviously Sirius will be a target of 'bashing' by the Order in the third book and Severus in the sixth, etc. From my part, there won't be. It'll just be the reactions of the characters that could be seen as 'bashing'. Peter might take a blow.

**Harrytonkslover2216 asked: Who are you going to have Harry in a relationship with? **I might have misled you guys when I asked you about shippings in the last chapter. I meant the Order; shippings for the current characters. The books are staying the same. My mistake, sorry!

**Not a question, but bigbangfan91 and Cassandra30 both mentioned the 'fight' between Remus and James in the last chapter, so I took the time to explain James's behaviour at the beginning of the chapter. **

**If you have reviewed and your name is not up there, please proceed to the bottom. (While you're at it, you could read this chapter :))**

* * *

**Reading of Chapter 2**

'Let's go on the porch.' James murmured to Lily.

'Alice, can you look after Harry for a second?' Lily asked giving her Harry.

Gesturing Sirius to come with them, Lily and James slipped through the talking crowd and went on the outside porch.

Sirius closed the door behind them and looked between the two of them. 'Weird, isn't it?'

'I feel like I don't even have time to think it over.' Lily said exasperated.

'How in the name of Merlin did Harry survive?' James asked unconvinced. 'Do you really think those books are real?'

'I suppose they are.' Lily said sitting down on a bench. 'It must have something to do with the Prophecy… How else would a fifteen-months-old survive? I've never even heard of anybody-'

'Maybe he has powers!' James said suddenly excited.

'_Powers?_' Lily asked sarcastically.

'Like a different magic in him, I meant.' James explained himself. 'You never know. How else do you explain he survived that spell?'

'Maybe he was scared so he performed accidental magic.' Lily suggested.

'It'd be a rather big accident, don't you think?' Sirius said reasonably. 'Imagine blocking the killing curse.'

'He didn't bloke it.' James reminded him. 'He got hit by it. He survived it!'

'My head hurts…' Lily mumbled putting her head in her hands.

'There's another problem…' James started slowly. 'Why is Snape here? Dumbleldore must trust him, but why?'

'I don't know, but he hasn't said one single word since he walked in.' Sirius said darkly.

James paced the patio. 'There's another thing… Dumbledore must know who's betraying us.'

It had come to a shock, a couple of months ago, when Dumbledore had announced that someone close to Lily and James was giving information to Voldemort.

'I still think we're jumping to conclusions by pointing a finger at Remus.' Lily said quietly.

'Who else would it be?' James said darkly. 'It's not Peter, he's not smart enough. It can't be Sirius… So it _has _to be Remus.'

'We know Voldemort's been offering… stuff to the werewolves, maybe it was tempting.' Sirius suggested.

'Anyways, Peter said that Remus has been acting weird.' James said still darkly. 'Did you hear him defending Dumbledore earlier?'

'You took that sentence all wrong!' Lily said shaking her head. 'And, Dumbledore wouldn't let Remus hear the books if he was aligned with Voldemort. Let's just keep pretending like nothing's wrong. Anyways, I have a much more pressing question. Why is our will being ignored? Clearly, we want Sirius to raise Harry.'

Sirius popped his head inside the house. '_Amelia Bones!_ Come here for a second, would you?'

A few seconds later, Amelia joined them outside.

'Have they caught you up on the story yet?' Sirius asked her.

'Rapidly, yes.'

'And, you work in laws, right?'

'Yes, I do!'

'I have a question.' Lily told her and she explained about the will. '…I mean, they just ignored it. Isn't that against the law? How does it work?'

Amelia was thoughtful for a second. 'No, they can't ignore a will. How do you know you haven't changed it?'

'Maybe we did.' Lily said dreadfully. 'But, I'm a hundred percent sure I wouldn't have put my sister's name down.'

'Then something must have happened to you, Sirius.' Amelia said seriously.

'No, I'm fine.' Sirius said shaking his head. 'I gave my motorbike to Hagrid, so I can't be – you know – dead.'

'Then, you must have agreed to let someone else be his guardian.' Amelia said looking at Sirius then she turned her attention to Harry's parents. 'There's usually a magical contract when forming a will, did you use one?'

Lily and James nodded. 'It's supposed to be all in order by next week and this event is in five months.'

'Well, like I told you, either you changed it or Sirius agreed for Petunia to be his guardian.' Amelia said.

There was a tap on the door. The four of them looked up to Frank who was holding his watch.

'Right, time is up.' James said.

They settle back down at their places and Lily took hold of Harry again. 'Let's see what you've been up to.'

Dumbledore sat down and opened the book at chapter two.

**Chapter 2 – The Vanishing Glass**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find** **their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at** **all. **

'So Harry'd be eleven, right?' Alice asked.

'He might be ten though.' Lily pointed out. 'It says _nearly_ ten years.'

'He's going to get his Hogwart's letter!' James eyes popped out.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass** **number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living** **room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when** **Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. **

**Only the** **photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.** **Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother.**

'They do sound like a happy family though.' Molly said smiling.

**The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

'Never mind.' Molly mumbled.

'Way to show who the favorite is.' Lily said darkly.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for** **long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made** **the first noise of the day.**

Severus nose went up in disgust, but as no one was really paying attention to him, it went unnoticed.

**"Up! Get up! Now!"**

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

Fabian patted Hagrid on the arm. 'He remembers you.'

Hagrid looked pleased with himself.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

James made an angry noise with his throat.

'Perhaps he's late for school or something and he needs to get up as soon as possible.' Emmeline said in a small voice so as to not provoke James.

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you** **dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

'She hates him.' Lily said sadly.

Alice and Emmeline seemed determined to cheer her up.

'It's not uncommon to ask a ten year old to look after the bacon, is it?' Alice asked while Emmeline nodded in agreement.

'It's the choice of words.' Andromeda said. 'If I was to ask something to Nymphadora, I would say, 'Would you please look after the bacon, because it is Dudley's birthday and I'm sure he'll appreciate it?' Only if she would have started to be smart with me would I have told her off. You can't teach a kid some manners if you don't have them yourself.'

**Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

**"Nothing, nothing..."**

'I wonder what he sounds like.' Lily said looking at Harry.

'Probably like a girl at that age.' Sirius said, 'It's true!' He added at the look on James's face.

**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out** **of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and,** **after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

_Clank!_

James dropped the toys he was holding up for Harry to play with. Beside him, Lily was shaking her head while angry tears went down both of her cheeks.

'She's…she's…' Lily tried to find a word strong enough to describe her sister's behavior, but none seemed to satisfy her.

_'Evil!'_ Alice said darkly and dramatically, having gave up on the Cheering-Up-Lily club.

_Even my father wouldn't make me sleep in a cupboard, _Severus thought, feeling – but not showing – a bit of pity. It then occurred to him that the Potter kid had probably done something to deserve it and almost all the pity disappeared.

Everyone else in the room felt pity; even McGonagall whipped her eyes as she looked at the happy baby on Lily's lap.

Harry wasn't happy for much longer, it seemed he realised the atmosphere was dead. He looked at his mother who was now howling on his father's shoulder and he started crying as well.

Neville, who was on the ground, started crying when Harry did and he was picked up by his father.

Sirius looked at Remus and Peter. 'Do you think one of us kept in touch with Harry?'

'It doesn't seem like it.' Remus replied.

Peter seemed elsewhere.

'I'm a monster, I couldn't have raised him.' Remus murmured.

_Was monster a synonym for werewolf or Death Eater?_

This thought kept Sirius on edge for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the atmosphere became quite awkward. James had taken Harry from Lily and tried to calm him down while the other half of his body tried to calm Lily down. He hugged each one of them with a different arm. Everyone kept glancing at Dumbledore, but he did not resumed reading.

Sirius came to his sense and walked over to James to take Harry from him. He went back to his chair and hushed him calmly.

James took Lily in his arm and whispered in her ear. 'This is what we expected, but remember we can change it.'

'H-how?' She said in barely more than a whisper. 'I can't listen to this.'

James was aware of the silent room watching them, though not aware of Severus throwing him dirty looks, but he still whispered. 'We'll learn from our errors before we even make the mistake. We're lucky to have this chance.' He slipped his forehead on hers and took her hands. 'I need you to be strong so we can finish these books.'

Lily looked into her husband eyes before closing her own. She took a deep breath and nodded. The whole room seemed to have relaxed with her nod.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and the story went on.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

'It isn't fair!' Lily said through clenched teeth.

_Welcome to my world, _Severus almost said.

'I haven't said anything about it yet,' Fabian started. 'I have no idea what all those muggles objects are. The last chapter they had something about drills or whatever. I don't care much what they are, but is it important to the story?'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'All you need to know is that he had a really expensive birthday.'

'Figures.' Fabian's brother said.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

'Because of course, being director of a firm means you can't afford clothes.' Lily said sarcastically.

'Dudley could sacrifice one of his TVs - or whatever else you said in that list – and they could have bought Harry decent clothes.' James said coldly.

'Is a television expensive?' Alice wondered out loud.

'It depends on the size and the quality.' Marlene answered her. 'But, they could buy a few outfits with the money.'

'That's ridiculous.' Molly said disapprovingly.

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. **

'I don't think I can hear any more of this.' Lily said quietly to James.

James took her hand and squeezed it.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

'Car crash?' Arthur said surprised. 'You can die off that?'

'Muggles can.' Mad-Eyed grunted. 'I don't think that's the point here.'

'The point is,' Lily crossed her arms. 'Why is he being told that we died in a car crash?'

'If I really had to guess,' James said annoyed. 'I'd say he doesn't know he – or even _we_ are – I mean, were wizards.'

'Why would she take him in just to mistreat him?' Lily asked shaking her head. 'This is probably her way of getting back at me!'

'For what?' Madame Bones asked.

'Being a witch.' Lily said dully.

'Is it child abuse?' Edgar asked Amelia.

'Physically, no abuse has been done, unless it hasn't been mentioned yet. Maybe he doesn't have the best clothes, but he has some and the law won't punish anybody for that. You can't be punished for giving one children more present then the other. It's easy enough to say one child behaved and the other one didn't.' Amelia said seriously. 'As for the cupboard thing, I can't be certain. It would depend on the condition of it. If the air underneath it is good and he has some kind of mattress, there is really nothing to be done about it. Mentally, no case stands there either. Not yet. Lying about your' She pointed at James and Lily, 'death isn't a crime. They could easily say that it was for his protection. I haven't heard them call him names or whatnots. In the eye of the law, they aren't abusing him.'

'That's ridiculous!' James said unbelievingly. 'They're tippy toeing the line.'

'Yes, they are.' Amelia agreed calmly. 'But the law is the law.'

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

James looked pointedly at Amelia Bones.

'By the law, it's nothing.' She said.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

For the first time since the chapter had started, Lily allowed herself a small smile. 'Wonder where he gets that from?' She asked ruffling James's hair.

James looked pleased with himself.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon.**

James snorted.

'Do you have pictures of them?' Alice asked the couple.

'Yes, in my pocket.' James said sarcastically.

'Really?' Alice said having missed out on the sarcasm.

James looked at her unbelievably. 'Of course I don't! All you need to know is that he's an ugly-'

'James!' Lily gasped.

James looked at her.

'He's just… ummm…' Lily seemed to be struggling. 'He's… alright – he's fat and ugly.' She gave in.

Sirius, Frank, Alice and Marlene laughed.

**He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

There was a general sniggered around the room.

'He's James's son, no doubt.' Marlene said while laughing. 'Not that I'm calling you a skank.' She added to Lily.

Lily grimaced.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

'Honestly!' Molly murmured darkly.

Lily shot a look at James who seemed unperturbed by this, but she knew that James had been spoiled all his life. He probably thought this was normal behaviour.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

'Red out of shame or out of rage?' Edgar asked. 'I would probably have been ashamed of my behaviour.'

'My mother would have crucified me.' Arthur said pleasantly.

As everyone stated how their mother would react, Lily looked at James and said very quietly so only he could hear. 'You know this behaviour is wrong, right?'

James looked around the conversations. 'Well… I guess.'

Lily raised her eyebrows.

'My parents could afford… stuff.' James defended himself.

'Were you grateful for it? I'm not raising Harry to be thankless.' Lily whispered harshly. 'I don't care how rich we are.'

The conversations were dying down and James didn't get a chance to answer her questions.

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. **

Lily shot James a look.

James looked at her with a 'I wouldn't have turned over the table' look.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''**

The poorer adults in the room started to comment on the lack of parenting.

'Give him _exactly_ what he wants…'

'Don't even know how to raise a child…'

'The spoiled brat…'

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."**

'I thought muggles were supposed to be smart with numbers.' Arthur exclaimed. 'What is it called… math?'

Marlene nodded. 'Yes, they are.'

'He's just as thick as his father.' James said dryly.

'Vernon is the director of a firm.' Lily reminded everyone. 'He can't be stupid. I say he gets that from Petunia.'

James would have liked to disagree with this, but thought better of it.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

'Petunia can count.' Remus grinned.

'Oh, very impressive.' Lily said sarcastically. 'Thirty-seven plus two.'

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

'Phew, finally.' Emmeline murmured.

'Yeah, let's get a move on.' Sirius said annoyed. 'I thought this was Harry's story not Dudley's tantrum.'

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

Molly made a disapproving noise.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't** **take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

'Mrs. Figg?' Arthur asked. 'It rings a bell, doesn't it?'

'Arabella.' Edgar answered. 'I doubt it's her. She would know who Harry is, wouldn't she?'

'She's a squib though.' Fabian said thoughtfully. 'She could be living with muggles.'

'Yeah, but she still would know who Harry is.' Edgar repeated.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage** **and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever** **owned.**

'It's definitely not her.' Gideon laughed. 'Figg wouldn't waste her time showing Harry photographs about her cats. Does she even own some?'

'Alright, I was wrong. Move along!' Fabian rolled his eyes.

'Maybe they'll bring Harry to the movies this year.' Lily said in hopes. 'Poor baby, he can't even leave the house.'

'Or, they could leave him alone in the house.' James said. 'I would rather be alone in the house than with them.'

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

'She must be horrible if Harry would rather spend time with those monsters.' Andromeda said with a shrill laugh.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

'Marge?' James asked.

'Vernon's sister.' Lily replied. 'She was at their wedding, remember?'

'Oh, the whale!' James exclaimed.

'James!' Lily exclaimed, but she laughed a bit and so did a few people.

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

'Isn't Harry right there?' Marlene asked.

'Does this really surprise you by now?' Alice asked darkly.

'Now that I think about it, no.' Marlene grimaced.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

'Reminds me of my mother.' Sirius said nastily. 'Lovely lady she is.'

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

Lily caught Severus's eyes. Yvonne used to be around the house with Petunia whenever she and Severus were there. She smiled awkwardly before quickly looking at Dumbledore again. Severus's heart skipped a beat.

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to** **watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go** **on Dudley's computer).**

'Like father, like son.' Sirius grinned.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

'I would.' James said in a matter-of-factly way. He took Harry from Lily. 'We'll have to train you up a bit, little men. You have to take your part.'

'We could pay them a visit after the books.' Lily said off-handily.

Dumbledore was about to continue when James interrupted again.

'Wait a minute!' He said looking at Lily. 'Would you give me permission to curse them?'

Lily nodded.

'You wouldn't be mad?'

She shook her head.

James looked suspiciously at Lily. 'Really?'

'Yes.' She said vigorously. 'If you don't, I will!'

James looked satisfied.

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

'You'd think it would kill them to take him with them!' Alice exclaimed.

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

'For Heaven's sake!' Andromeda said angrily. 'Nymphadora hasn't cried in two years!'

Nymphadora looked proudly around.

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge,** **pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty** **grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

James, Lily, Sirius and Remus smirked at Peter. Peter, however, was looking pretty white.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. **

'He doesn't sound that strong.' Sirius pointed out.

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

'Of course.' Alice mumbled.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. **

'What's a zoo?' Fabian asked.

'It's a place where muggles go to visit animals and stuff. They're usually locked up in cages.' Lily said sadly. 'You see, muggles don't go along with animals like we do. Petunia hates animals. I don't even know why she bothers to go.'

'Probably for her ickle Duddydium.' Sirius said with a head nod.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up** **close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

'Try it, Dursley.' James said through his teeth. 'I hope Harry sets a tiger on them.'

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly.."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

'Accidental magic.' Lily said proudly.

'Talking about magic, where's his letter?' James asked. 'Isn't Dudley born close to Harry?'

'Yeah, in June.' Lily agreed. 'He must be getting it soon.'

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

'What?' Lily gasped. 'But - but, they should tell him. She knows! Petunia knows!'

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

'Ignorant!' Mad-Eyed yelled which made half the room jumped.

'She knows!' Lily repeated.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

'He flew!?' Alice exclaimed.

'I was going to say apparate.' Emmeline said in awes.

'Whichever one, it's still advance for a ten year old.' Remus pointed out.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.**

'Harry's pretty undeniable too.' Arthur frowned.

'You don't really know how unusual it is at that age.' Lily said. 'I remember I was able to do weird things and I never ever questioned it. I just went right along with it.'

'Still, you must have known something was different about you?' Alice asked.

'I remember wishing I had powers or something, but you don't really know at that age. I didn't dwell on it much.' Lily admitted.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

'When you say it like that,' James said wrinkling his nose. 'I suppose it could be pleasant.'

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

'And again with bikes.' Sirius said looking hopeful. 'Maybe it's a hint. I'm coming to take him away!'

'I really hope so.' Lily said dryly.

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

'He remembers more about that night than he realises.' Amelia said. 'I hope he puts the pieces together.'

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

'Yes, they do.' Sirius smirked. 'I have one.'

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

'It was more than that.' Molly said.

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

'Because they know!' Lily said for the third time.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

'He looks like his father. He thinks like his father.' Lily said tickling Harry's belly.

'Let's just hope he doesn't give us the same trouble as his father.' McGonagall said sternly.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

'Constant Vigilance!' Mad-Eyed said loudly. 'Good boy!'

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

'I'm surprise they didn't just throw it out at this point.' Marlene said shocked.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

'Here we go.' Alice murmured.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

'Urgh, I love animals, but I don't do snakes.' Lily shuddered.

'Me either.' Marlene stuck out her tongue in disgust.

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

'How I wish the snake would eat off their faces.' James said almost dreamily.

'Except Harry.' Sirius added.

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

'He has a lot of imagination,' Emmeline pointed out. 'Comparing himself with a snake and comparing Dudley with that - gorilla was it?'

'He better not think he's a snake or he'll end up in Slytherin.' Sirius said seriously.

'We're not all bad.' Andromeda huffed.

'Not you.' Sirius said very fast. 'I'm just saying, most of them Death Eaters…' He shot a look at Severus.

Severus raised his eyebrow. Dumbledore must have sense danger because he continued on.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

'Maybe it can sense that he's a wizard?' Remus said thoughtfully.

'Snakes don't usually go along well with wizards though.' Fabian pointed out. 'Except You-Know-Who, but he's a Parseltongue.'

'Still…' Alice said slowly. 'It probably hadn't seen a wizard in ages.'

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

'This is exactly what he needs to do: befriend a snake!' James said sarcastically.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."**

'Is this normal snake behaviour?' Lily said frantically.

'I don't know…' Edgar Bones said slowly. 'But, he can't be a Parseltongue. I'm pretty sure it's genetic.'

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

Lily eyes grew wide. James gasped. Severus frowned deeper than he ever did. Sirius, Peter and Remus exchanged looks. Alice and Marlene gasped at one another. McGonagall was the first one to speak.

'Albus, surely this cannot be? First, he destroys He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then this.'

'Minerva, I assure you.' Dumbledore eyes twinkle. 'I visited the future. These events are as true as you and me.'

'But, neither James or I can talk to snakes.' Lily blurted out. 'Is it even possible?'

'Maybe we are able!' James exclaimed. 'I've never tried to talk to snakes…'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'I'm afraid not, James. Though there is a reason for Harry's special ability which shall be treated in the second book.'

'So, he really is a Parseltongue?' Alice said in a small voice.

Dumbledore didn't reply, but smile and continued on.

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

'This is a bit troubling.' Emmeline said looking at the baby Harry who was now almost asleep in his mother's lap.

'He's literally having a conversation with a snake.' Marlene said dryly.

'Pointing out the obvious.' Sirius smirked.

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**

**"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

'Tell the snake to attack them.' James suggested darkly. When he noticed Lily's face he added, 'He might as well use his – er- capability.

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

'Did the snake attack?' Sirius asked with anticipation.

'There's a glass in the way, remember?' Frank said. 'Though I wish there wasn't at this point.'

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

Sirius punched his fist in the air.

'Oh God, the snake is lose!' Lily said worried.

'Don't worry; Harry's made friends with the snake.' James said amusingly. 'Didn't you Harry?' He added to the small boy who was now asleep.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

Alice sniggered. Everyone looked at her.

'Oh, I'm sorry. It's a funny scene in my head.'

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

'He _is _a Parseltongue!' Emmeline exclaimed. 'There's the proof!'

'Let's not judge him because he is!' Lily said suddenly heated.

'We weren't.' Alice assured her. 'We're just surprised, that's all.'

'All Parseltongues don't have to be bad.' Remus added.

Marlene nodded in agreement.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. **

'That'll get Harry in trouble for sure…' Lily said in disappointment. 'It's not his fault… he can't control it…'

'Especially if he doesn't know what's causing it.' Marlene agreed. 'Once I knew I was a witch, I had close to zero accident.'

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

'He just had to blab!' James threw his hands in the air. 'It's no wonder he gets in trouble.'

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

James and Lily turned towards Amelia Bones at the same time.

'That?' James asked simply.

'Neglecting food…' Amelia said thoughtfully. 'That could have a case… if it's extreme… it's not black and white, they're not exactly starving him, are they? It's in a grey zone…'

'So, it would depend on some circumstances?' Lily asked.

'Well, yes.' Amelia answered. 'He ate that day; they're not making him go days without eating… I can't give you a specific answer.'

'So…?' Lily started.

'So, Harry himself would have to ask for another home for it to have a case at this point.' She said.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. **

'That's because it wasn't a car crash!' James said angrily. 'I can't wait to repay Vernon for this!'

'He hasn't really done it though.' Remus pointed out, but he went quiet when James shot him a look.

'I'm with James on this one.' Lily sniffed. 'I'm getting Petunia for this! If it had been the other way around, I would have never done what she's done. It's cruel!'

**He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

Lily felt a wave of heat throughout her body. Harry would never know her. Harry wouldn't even know what she looked like or who she was. She felt extreme sadness at the thought of it.

Harry was breathing softly on her chest and Lily hold him closer.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. **

'I'm going to come.' Sirius said looking around in case someone disagreed with him.

'You're taking your sweet time!' Marlene pointed out.

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

'Wizards who knows his story, no less.' Arthur said.

'I was about to say the same thing.' Frank smiled. 'I hope we see him get his Hogwart's letter.'

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

'Poor thing.' Molly whispered softly.

'That's the end of that chapter.' Dumbledore announced. 'I'll see you back here in ten minutes.'

'Let's go back outside.' Lily whispered to James.

* * *

**Tadaaaaaaaa! I'll be faster on the next chapter. I'll try real hard!**

**To my beautiful reviewers:**

**StarfireRocks: **That's why I started to write this book. It means a lot that you say that! :)

**Clmence: **Je suis Française aussi, mais je viens du Canada! Si tu as lit mon commentaire du haut, j'ai expliqué que je ne changerais pas les livres. Ginny et Harry vont être ensemble. Je parlais des membres qui lisent les livres quand j'ai demandée qui allaient être avec qui dans les prochains chapitres. Si le support continue, je ferais un livre après les sept livres afin de montrer le cheminement des personnages après cet évènement, là peut-être qu'il pourra avoir des changements. Personne ne va haïr Hermione, ne t'en fait pas! :)

**Samantha marks and Newguard : **Thank you! :)

**I think that`s everyone. If not, sorry!**

**Reviews are still welcome!**

**Loads of love, **

**Jilly1111**


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